mhworth's review against another edition
3.0
This is really a 3 for the audiobook, and 3.5 for the book. I think I did myself a disservice by listening to it. There is so much music in this book, but the readers just read the words out loud instead of attempting the tune. I listening to it, I missed some of the nuance. In fact, when I finished, I went and downloaded from the library the e-book version to re-read the end and found it somewhat more satisfying. I know this has been something of a phenomenon, and I don’t know if it just wasn’t my thing, or if I wasn’t paying close enough attention and missed it. I missed a lot by not recognizing the roman à clef component in the first section (Folly)... And never having been a huge Philip Roth fan, I guess this just not excite me the way it did others. I did pick up on the Alice in Wonderland motif, but found it somewhat awkwardly shoehorned in. I realize I am the exception and far less sophisticated than many other reviewers, so maybe this reflects my provincial state. But to me it was meh.
bbboeken's review against another edition
3.0
***1/2
Difficult one. I really like the first and third parts, but wasn't really smitten with the middle, not as part of the novel. It's a very nice piece of writing by itself, and I do somewhat understand its purpose in the frame of the novel, but I wouldn't have missed it if it would have been omitted. I'll stay generous with my rating because of the nice prose and the superb tone of the novel, and the promise this holds for future prose by Mrs. Halliday.
Difficult one. I really like the first and third parts, but wasn't really smitten with the middle, not as part of the novel. It's a very nice piece of writing by itself, and I do somewhat understand its purpose in the frame of the novel, but I wouldn't have missed it if it would have been omitted. I'll stay generous with my rating because of the nice prose and the superb tone of the novel, and the promise this holds for future prose by Mrs. Halliday.
ichirofakename's review against another edition
4.0
The titled asymmetry is that the book is made up of two unrelated stories. Like "Jeff In Venice/Death In Varanasi", but without even a shared character. And not as interesting.
The first story is a May-December relationship in NYC between an old male writer and a young undirected woman that seems to be going along just fine, though to no particular conclusion. The second is about an Arab in London and Iraq, with various problems of border crossing and the recent Iraq war. Also not particularly closed. Finally there is a little coda starring the December of story 1, but still completely unconnected to story 2.
Please read and explain the connection to me.
The first story is a May-December relationship in NYC between an old male writer and a young undirected woman that seems to be going along just fine, though to no particular conclusion. The second is about an Arab in London and Iraq, with various problems of border crossing and the recent Iraq war. Also not particularly closed. Finally there is a little coda starring the December of story 1, but still completely unconnected to story 2.
Please read and explain the connection to me.
emilyhan0906's review against another edition
2.0
The inconsequential first world problems that dragged on and on in this book versus everything else happening in that world that could’ve been interesting or important but was minimized - is this asymmetry intended?
cheye13's review against another edition
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A very interesting story from a meta-fiction point of view. I knew the "twist" ahead of time and I think that helped me in the reading experience: Even with that, I feel like I need a reread to fully comprehend the stories' relation to each other.
That being said, I would have liked the stories to have just a bit more overlap, more elements in common. I'm also not sure what purpose part three serves aside from connecting the other two; its quite a long narrative conceit, if that's its only intention.
Spoiler
in part three, Ezra Blazer implies that section two was a work of fiction written by Alice.That being said, I would have liked the stories to have just a bit more overlap, more elements in common. I'm also not sure what purpose part three serves aside from connecting the other two; its quite a long narrative conceit, if that's its only intention.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Dementia, War, Injury/Injury detail, Abortion, and Sexual content
Minor: Genocide, Racism, Classism, Alcohol, and Drug abuse